Published on Wednesday 11 November 2020
Plans to transform the heart of Lansdowne can now proceed, following the approval of an initial delivery phase.
BCP Council’s long term vision for Lansdowne is to create an exciting and attractive place to live, work, study and enjoy. This will be achieved through a series of major investments into the public realm to create new urban areas for people to interact, sit outside, host meetings, enjoy events and innovate.
Following approval by Cabinet, BCP Council will now progress with further detailed design work and proceed with an initial delivery phase. This will focus on transforming the area and creating an attractive environment that will invite people to stay in the area for longer, meet friends and spend time with colleagues.
Councillor Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of BCP Council and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning, said:
"This is a major steppingstone for delivering our long-term transformational vision for the Lansdowne area. Having listened to the Lansdowne community, these initial improvements will focus on supporting local businesses, economic recovery and better ways of travel. They will also complement the dynamic business community, encourage people back into local businesses and be a springboard for future investments.’’
Following feedback from residents, businesses and transport providers, the first phase will deliver improvements to the public realm which do not require the closure of Holdenhurst Road. This will include art installations, seating and new event space located outside the Old Fire Station.
In addition, a new segregated cycle route, improvements for local buses and safer pedestrian crossing points will be introduced. This will encourage more healthy, sustainable and safer journeys through the area. A public consultation on the proposed highways changes opened at the end of October and runs until 20 November 2020.
Additional information
The Lansdowne Programme helps to deliver several BCP Council priorities and contributes to the Council’s vision of vibrant communities with outstanding quality of life where everyone plays an active role. Combined with the planned advanced digital offering and rapid growth of this sector and others in the Lansdowne area, the potential outputs resulting from these proposed public realm changes are huge and transformational for an area.
£4.8m million has been secured through the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership Local Growth Deal Funding 3 programme, in order to deliver this phase of improvements. A further £2.89 million of council match funding from local contributions will also be invested in the area, resulting in almost £7.7 million public investment for the Lansdowne area.